Starting to Write
Planner or Pantser?
As I shared in the last post, ideas for stories come from everywhere. But Jim Wood began because I just started writing.
Did I have any idea where the story was going?
No.
Did I know who my main characters were going to be?
I knew Jim Wood. That was it.
Some people might start a story without any idea of where it is going, but once it’s started, they’ll plan things out. I’m a Pantser. I don’t plan ahead. Occasionally, I will jot down ideas on half pieces of file cards if I have too many ideas in my head. But I don’t always use them.
Just Writing
When I first started to really focus on writing, I found that if I wrote in 1,000 word segments it really helped me tune my writing. If I was 20 words over I would go back through my story and see if there were words I could cut out to make it better. If I was 22 words under, I would see if I could add another word here or reword a sentence there. Perhaps add a little description some place else.
Now when I write, I will often do 3-6k words at a time instead of the 1k. However, with Jim Wood, because I didn’t know where it was going, I started out with 1k. For the first couple thousand words. Then I just wrote. The story came together piece by piece. New people would show up and I had to figure out, just like my MC, if they could be trusted or not. Things happened that I was NOT expecting and I had to work my way through them. It’s always a journey when I write because, like my readers, I don’t know the ending when I start and I certainly don’t know the middle.
One thing I will do, is keep a list of the characters as they enter the story. For that I use a page in my WriteMind Planner pages {Cast of Characters}.
Did this story ever get stuck?
Yes. There were times I had no idea what was going to happen next or where the story should go, but I discovered something with this story. If I lie on the floor with my feet on the chair, my arms away from my sides and relax as I stared at the ceiling and think about my story, I’d get ideas. Or I’d be able to figure out what came next. And it still works. Perhaps it has something to do with concentrated focus on just the story instead of trying to jump in to writing after doing other things.
Next week I’ll let you see how I edit. Same time, same place . . .
Do you plan your stories out before you write them? Or do you just write and see what happens? What do you do when you story gets stuck?
Can totally relate to all this! I’m a Pantser too. 😂
How fun, Ellen! 😀
I’m a Pantser and I love being one! Thanks for this post, Rebekah! <3
My pleasure, Scotia! I love hearing of other Pantsers. 😉
This is so neat! I should make a cast of characters page for my books…
Yes, you should. 😉 It’s very helpful.
I’m a plantster–I need to have a very rough idea of where I’m heading and what will happen. But otherwise, I seldom do a real outline. 😉
Ah, yes. It’s fun seeing where the story goes as you writ it. 🙂
Hello!
I’m a planster (^_^”) I sometimes plan a general outline before I write my story. However, there are times when I know what will happen from the beginning ’till end in my mind. In that case, I won’t plan. When I actually do write, it always deviates from the plan which is good! Because I realised my plan doesn’t make sense and I allow the story to flow naturally by itself. This may make pre-planning seem useless, but it’s not! They’re still ideas, so I keep them at the side in case. I also plan along the way, especially when I know where it’s heading.
What I do when my story gets stuck: I do something non-writing related. I cook, clean, shower, walk, do chores, play piano, fall asleep, etc. Most of my ideas come while I cook, shower, and right before I fall asleep (ha-ha!).
How fun! Thanks for sharing, Clarissa! I love hearing how other writers craft their stories.
And great ideas of what to do when you are stuck. 😀
I’m a hard-core planner. 😛 For my first few stories that I tried to write, I didn’t plan very much (except maybe characters), and I ended up giving up on them because I didn’t know where they were going and there was no real plot point. (At least I think that’s why I gave up on them…) Then I had the idea to write a book with my brother, and we plotted everything out completely. I’m pretty sure it was the first story I actually completed (besides something for school, perhaps), and that sold me out to plotting. I’ve found it helps a lot to plot when you have a co-author; otherwise I think it would be very difficult to be on the same page.
However, I recently wrote a short story without plotting, and I like how it turned out! So maybe I’m a plantser? I’m not sure. I still consider myself a planner. And if I didn’t know that you were a pantser, I would probably think planning is the only way to go. But since you are an established author and you don’t plan, I can admit that everyone is different and what works for one may not work for others. 😉 So I’m glad I learned that! (I did know that before this post, somehow.)
So, maybe any longer story has to be planned for you, but short things might be able to squeak by without planning. 😉 Fun.
I like hearing how different people write.
When I first started writing I didn’t know there were different ways to write. I just knew what I did.
I think I’m a plantser. I normally have a rough idea of where my story is headed, but it’s all subject to change. I love surprising myself as I’m writing a story! For some reason, the few stories I planned out all the way are still sitting in my files in outline form waiting to written. I think I wore myself out just writing the outlines! 😛
When I get stuck, I rush to my sisters for help. They can get me out of any writing difficulty!!! I’ll read my story to them and ask what the next scene or part of the scene should be. Even if they can’t come up with an answer, it sparks my brain and gets me going again. It also helps if I have a favorite character in the scene. 😉
Yes, I can’t do outlines. 😀 That’s neat that you know where a story is heading but can change things up as you write.
Oh, sisters are great at helping when you are stuck! I used my sister quite often when I first started writing. Even just talking about the story helps spark something.
Thanks for sharing!